3.08.2010

Yesterday we began the process of getting an engineering degree by getting a general overview of a community college and state university system. Today, let's narrow the scope down specifically to Florida.

First, check out these interesting statistics about community college students surveyed at Sussex County Community College

Florida has an amazing community college and public university system, one of the best in the world. We have this thing called a 2+2 articulation agreement, which states that any person with an Associate of Arts degree (a 2-year degree) from a Florida community college is guaranteed admission into a Florida state university. Also, once you get into the university, expect to pay some of the lowest tuition costs in the nation as a Florida resident.

This seems like a pretty sweet deal, considering the fact that there are twenty-eight public colleges and state colleges in Florida to begin your education and eleven state universities (including the ever-popular University of Florida) to finish your degree. So why isn't every high school student beginning at a community college to automatically get accepted into the school of their choice?

Well this is where things get a little slippery to explain, but I'll do my best to clarify. The 2+2 agreement is supposed to guarantee your admission to the UNIVERSITY but not the COLLEGE of choice. Theoretically, a student could get accepted to the University of South Florida but not the College of Engineering, meaning that student is figuratively up a creek without a paddle. She is technically a USF student, but since she isn't actually a student in the College of Engineering, she can't take any engineering classes or get her degree in whatever field of engineering she wants. The 2+2 agreement is good for getting your foot in the door, but you're going to need a lot more than just that to actually get your engineering (or whatever) degree from that institution.

But of course nothing could be that simple. Now the 2+2 agreement is in jeopardy, since institutions aren't necessarily respecting that agreement due to budget cuts. At this point, a community college student isn't even guaranteed acceptance into a state university. So what is the point of this 2+2 agreement if it doesn't do anything? Well, as the pirates of the Caribbean would say, it's more like guidelines. The universities are supposed to follow this agreement, but they kinda sorta don't always.

The Florida Junior Community College Student Government Association (FJCCSGA) is voice for all Florida community colleges, and they are not at all happy about this looming threat to their transfer status! FJCCSGA has been taking action by holding rallies in Tallahassee every year to talk with legislators and inform them about the issues which concern community college students. FJCCSGA wants the 2+2 to be more clearly defined so we don't get onto slippery slopes and to actually enforce the 2+2. The problem is the growing budget cuts to our education; universities cannot accept and support as many students if they do not have the funds to do so. Ultimately, this entire cost issue lies in the fact that the state has paid a majority of Florida residents' tuition for many, many years and now, when the economy is a little rough and money is tough to come by, the state is looking to cut their major costs and educational funding is one of them. Obviously, we don't want this to happen because of its negative impact on us, so FJCCSGA and individual students are doing everything possible to support the legislators' decisions that will favor us.

But we all know how long the government process can take (healthcare, anyone?), so what can the CC students do in the meantime? Make themselves as absolutely amazing and desirable as possible to the universities and colleges to which they are applying. A lot of competitive students are part of their school's Phi Theta Kappa chapter (the honor society for two-year colleges) student government, and other campus organizations. These students also volunteer and take impressive course loads, all while continuing to talk to admissions counselors, financial aid offices, and professors to obtain letters of recommendation. And the student has to do all this in about two years. A little bit overwhelming? Heck yes, but that's what we gotta do to ensure our spot in the top (or even the middle would be nice).

Just as a recap before I leave you for the morning, three points to take away with you...

Florida community college graduates are guaranteed admission to the state university but not necessarily the college.

Point #1 is more of a guideline right now, which has a lot of students mad.

Since Point #2 is being debated, students in the meantime do anything and everything to be as competitive as possible for transfer admission.

3.07.2010

Let this tardy post be a lesson to you: good intentions lead nowhere; you have to sit yourself down at the computer and actually begin to write! That being said, it helps to get a good headstart on your writing over spring break when the homework deadlines aren't as looming...

The two most popular methods of getting your engineering degree is (1) attend a four-year program from start to finish or (2) get your first two years out of the way at a community college and complete the last two or three at a baccalaureate program. I chose the second option and am currently halfway through my final semester at a CC, so that means that I am getting ready to transfer to a full-scale nuclear engineering four-year program in fall 2010. This is an exciting process which thoroughly fascinates me, but before I dive into the exact transfer process and my applications, you probably need to know a little bit more about the community college + university idea, which will be the topic of discussion for this first installment of the transfer trivium. In the second post, I'll describe the exact idea of transferring in Florida (which is where I live, by the way), and finally, I'll talk a little bit more about my personal transfer application process. With luck, I'll get this entire idea out of the way within the week, so we can get back to the nerdy stuff relatively soon!

Before getting into the more technical stuff, check out this quick video about getting started at a community college...

For engineering students, the CC track is popular but it certainly has its pros and cons. The positives of attending a CC for the first two years is that you get your math (all the way to Differential Equations) and science (Chem I and II, Organic I and II, Physics I and II, biology if so inclined) courses completed in a smaller class environment and with professors who are there just to teach you and who are genuinely interested in your comprehension of the material. The other positive is that it is astronomically cheaper than attending a state university for the first two years, once you factor in tuition cost, room and board, transportation, etc.

The negative of a CC for the engineers are that your advancement into higher level courses at a freshman or sophomore level is limited at best; for most schools, it's non-existent. Let's look at the engineering-related courses a civil engineering student at a state university would complete in his/her first two years of study...

Technical writing

Calculus I, II, and III

Differential equations

General chemistry I and II

Physics I and II

Statics

Thermodynamics

Got that? Now let's look at the first two years of courses that an engineering student at a community college would complete...

Calculus I, II, and III

Differential equations

General chemistry I and II

Physics I and II

Notice what's missing? That's right - two crucial engineering courses, namely statics and thermodynamics, which are staples for almost any engineering program. This CC engineering track doesn't change regardless of the intended field of the student, but the state university program does, which means that a CC transfer student could be two to three to even four classes behind the state university program!

Don't get me wrong; I love the CC idea and I don't regret my choice to begin this way. However, it is something that transfer students have to be prepared for. That being said, CC students are shown to be better prepared for a state university experience and perform better than the high school freshmen. So what can engineering students do about it?

There are several excellent CC/state university articulation and cooperation programs that exist throughout the nation, and this topic is a very diverse field of study for educators and engineers alike. Research is constantly being performed to determine how to better prepare CC engineering students for a state university, and it is an ever-changing and dynamic study. For now though, CC's are starting to take the initiative by offering cross-enrollment agreements, allowing a CC student to take engineering courses at a nearby state university, and promoting engineering organizations on campus to educate students about the many opportunities available in engineering.

So now, hopefully you have a general idea of the community college and state university education track, commonly referred to as the 2+2 agreement. In the next post, look forward to my breakdown of what exactly the 2+2 agreement means in Florida and how students transfer. Finally, you'll get to learn a little bit about my personal transfer process and how exciting it is! Feel free to drop me an email or comment about your thoughts or questions; I look forward to hearing from you.